Many of my clients have bought floor steam mops from vairous places. These are pricey items to have. But when used correctly they can make a good floor look great! Because of our climate in Manitoba, I no longer bring my floor steamer to client homes. But my staff and I have used client's floor steamers. Steaming a floor takes extra time.
When I bought my Smart Living Steam mop at a home show, the salesman was boasting how it saved you steps. He claimed you didn't have to mop first. I'm telling you he doesn't clean floors for a living. And you will always have to sweep or vacuum your floors before using a floor steamer. But as we all know, sweeping or vacuuming will never get 100% of the itty bitty gritty off the floor. I go one step further, and mop the floor as well before using the steamer. Then the steamer doesn't have to do anything but sanitize and give the floor that posh finish that leaves absolutely no marks behind.
Always, always use distilled or bottled water in any steam producing equipment. Empty it completely after each use. Make sure the lines are absolutely dry by turning the unit on for steam and checking that no steam comes out of the unit. This is when the lines are dry. Now it is ready to be stored in a dry place. Leftover moisture will lead to mold or residue build up over time which will cause the item to break down.
So here's where I come to the part of the floor steamer's life where it breaks down. There are many things that can go wrong with a steamer. But the most common is plugged lines. Contaminants in the lines can stop a steamer in it's tracks.
I took a tiny set of Phillips screw drivers and took out all the tiny screws so I could look inside my wounded floor steamer. Inside I could see residue and mold buildup on the inside of the clear tubing lines that led to the pump. I disconnected the lines and blew them out with my hand held steamer (another handy dandy peice of equipment I love.) I reconnected the lines to the pump.
It still didn't work. So I disconnected the pump from the heater. I turned it on and saw that the pump was working. So the problem was inside the heater. It was producing a lot of heat. But it wasn't letting the water pass through it at all.
These heaters often have a one way valve on them. So I blew (with my hand held steamer) into the lines going backwards. Just in case the one way valve might be gummed up on the exit side of things. Then I went to the lines leading into the heater. I blew them out using my hand held steamer as well. Then once reconnected with all the clamps safely in place, I tested it and all moving parts were once again working.
This took the better part of 2 hours to do. The reassembly went very slowly because the heater stays hot for a long time.
I love my little floor steamer!